You tell the story-we tell the world

Menu

OPMC refutes bill withdrawal claim

THE Office of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (OPMC) has repudiated today’s Island Sun headline news claiming the Democratic Coalition for Change Government has withdrawn the Anti-Corruption Bill 2016.

“It is important for the media to understand the due Parliament process that once a bill is set down in the Order Paper, it can never be withdrawn. Rather, it is the tabling of a bill that can be deferred.

“As such, the Anti-corruption Bill 2016 has not been withdrawn as erroneously and misleadingly suggested by Today’s Island Sun headline news. Instead, it is the bill’s proposed tabling this week that has been deferred to a later day which will be decided by the government in due course,” a statement from the Office of the Prime Minister and Cabinet said.

The statement said Prime Minister Hon Manasseh Sogavare acknowledges the overwhelming public support for the bill and assures that the government is working to ensure the bill gets through Parliament after being tabled.